1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a surgical fastener apparatus for applying surgical fasteners to body tissue and, more particularly, relates to a surgical fastener apparatus incorporating a linear position sensor adapted for determining the location of the pusher of the fastener instrument during movement through its firing stroke.
2. Description of Related Art
Anastomosis refers to the surgical joining of separate tissue sections. An anastomosis procedure may follow surgery in which a diseased or defective section of a hollow tissue or organ structure is removed, thus requiring the joining of the remaining sections of the tissue. Depending on the particular procedure performed and/or other factors, the end sections of the tissue may be joined by linear anastomosis or circular anastomosis, e.g., end-to-end anastomosis, end-to-side anastomosis, or side-to-side anastomosis.
A fastener instrument or apparatus adapted for anastomosis generally includes a pusher or drive mechanism which, during a firing stroke, delivers an array of fasteners or staples through each of two sections of tissue to join the tissue sections, and may simultaneously cut or core adjoining tissue within the newly joined sections to separate or clear a passage therethrough. To ensure that the firing stroke effectively drive the staples or fasteners through tissue to achieve successful anastomosis of the tissue sections, confirmation of the location of the pusher relative to the fasteners during the firing stroke would be of significant value to the clinician. The size of the staple or fastener utilized during the procedure, the thickness of the tissue and/or manufacturing tolerances of the firing components of the instrument will affect travel of the pusher, and may detract from the overall effectiveness of the anastomosis. This issue becomes even more critical with reusable instruments having a reusable handle adapted for use with various loading units with mounted end effectors. Variations in the dimensions of the drive components of the loading units and end effectors, and/or size of the fasteners will impact the effectiveness of the firing stroke.